Reliance Brands, part of Reliance Retail, is looking to expand its chain of luxury retail stores called ‘The White Crow’ as luxury shopping picks up pace in the country. The five-year-old multi-brand retail chain is looking to expand these luxury stores to more cities.
The move is also timed with the likely entry of rival Shoppers Stop into luxury retailing via standalone large-format stores by the end of this financial year or early next year, retail industry sources said.
Reliance Brands is currently present in 12 cities with stores sized between 8,000 and 10,000 sq ft. These include metros like Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad as well as smaller cities such as Indore, Jaipur and Ranchi. The plan is to extend the chain to cities like Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata, sources said, as the model is scalable and can be quickly taken to more markets, including metros and mini-metros.
A mail sent to Reliance Retail and Reliance Brands remained unanswered till the time of going to press. Shoppers Stop has declined to comment on its future plans.
Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, which is another leading organised retail player in India, runs the decade-old ‘The Collective’ chain of luxury stores, with over 30 outlets across cities, measuring around 10,000-11,000 sq ft. Plans include adding some 15-20 more outlets over the next one year, as the need for luxury retail spaces grows in India, industry executives said.
“While luxury malls such as the Jio World Plaza or Phoenix Palladium in Mumbai or DLF Emporio in Delhi do exist in the country, retail destinations for luxury shoppers in general are very limited here. There is need for more formats and retail spaces to address the growing base of luxury shoppers,” says Susil Dungarwal, a retail and mall specialist, who heads a Mumbai-based consultancy called Beyond Squarefeet.
The White Crow sells luxury brands such as Armani, Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Canali, among other high-end labels, using a combination of curated collections, easy product categorisation and mixed merchandising, experts said.
Sources said that large organised retailers such as Reliance Retail and Aditya Birla Retail have positioned their luxury store chains as aspirational shopping zones, aiming to draw the well-heeled in the cities they operate.
A report by Bain and Company says that India’s luxury market is forecast to expand to 3.5 times its current size of $25 billion, reaching $90 billion by 2030 due to rapid economic growth. A surge in the base of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (with a net worth of over $30 million), which is projected to increase from 13,263 now to nearly 20,000 by 2028, is also driving growth, prompting large retailers to expand their presence into luxury retailing quickly.
Reliance Brands has been the most aggressive in terms of introducing global brands into India in recent years, with a portfolio of over 50 international labels, according to its website.
In his address to shareholders in Reliance Industries’ annual report for FY24, which was released on Wednesday, chairman & MD Mukesh Ambani said, “Reliance Retail’s vision of inclusive development for millions of consumers and merchants, coupled with unprecedented growth of the Indian marketplace, has resulted in marquee names investing in RRVL at a $100-billion valuation milestone.”
The company said that it would continue to strengthen its capabilities in retail with strategic partnerships, acquisitions and tie-ups.